One of the most depressing times of the year is the post-Christmas season. Expectations and jolly cheer that have been built up suddenly come to a horrific halt, striking depression into the hearts of people everywhere. Decorations must be taken down, and all of a sudden, people stop giving you gifts and everything just kind of goes back to normal. Oh sure, there's the New Year, but if you're not a bachelor/bachelorette yuppie alcoholic, what fun is it, really? Woo, it's 2008. We get to go back to work and loved ones either leave or turn back into nagging whiners. Not to mention the fact that you will inevitably write "2007" before realizing what year it is and turning the seven into a very angular number eight. Or am I the only one who does that?

Then there's January, the worst month ever (with the notable exception of September). January is miserable. I like the cold weather, but the downside is the 40 degree rain that would have been snow if it had only been a few degrees cooler. And there aren't any holidays to celebrate, except Martin Luther King Day, which neither my employer nor my university celebrates, for some strange reason.

I guess there's President's Day, but NOBODY gets off for that, and whatever its weird intent was when the holiday was created has now changed into a "get furniture and cars half off the tripled value price!" type of ordeal. Bleh.

Of course, I'll be in England. But I've had about eighteen Januarys prior to this one, and none of them were ever remarkable in any good way.

Jennifer Bowman

-Jennifer Bowman is a nineteen-year-old in Cleveland, Tennessee. Her dad is fellow columnist JC Bowman.

So what can you do to keep your spirits up during this month of dreary work and year-end reports and Christmas after-shock? Cash in some sick days and holiday days and take your family on a slightly-longer vacation somewhere warm for MLK weekend. And maybe you can keep your house decorated, and pretend that you're still in a winter wonderland. Hey, winter is ambiguous - in fact, technically, winter is just beginning, since it starts on the 21st of December! One of my dad's cousins, Johnny Eldridge, kept his tree up all year long and decorated it according to the seasons. It made his house look cheerier and gave him and his wife something to do.

But the best thing you can do is keep the holiday spirit of giving. Give at church. Give at charities. How many too-small clothes do you have in your closest that you're keeping "just in case" you drop twenty pounds? Give them to Goodwill! That way, you can get brand new clothes when you lose that weight for your New Year's resolution. I hear it's much more exciting that way. And by the way, working out makes you feel really good, too. Buy your mother a matching necklace for the sweater that you bought for Christmas.

Take the story of a Bloomington Starbucks. One woman decided to pay for the person's order behind her at the drive-thru, and he was so touched that he did the same for the person behind him - and so on and so on, for about 142 cars, according to the manager. If there wasn't someone behind them, they would donate some money for the next person anyway. It's really simple to start something like that. Maybe it wouldn't last so long, but maybe it would! It's just really amazing what a small act of kindness can mean to people. And ultimately (as egoistic as it sounds) it will make you feel better as well, and brighten up the sad month of January.